Katsuki's Mistake
by Sokkalovr1
Summary: Katsuki only meant to protect him. He never thought it would bring him to the brink of destruction.


"Tch. Fucking Deku, thinking he can get into Yueii. Thinking I'll i _allow/i_ him to." Katsuki walked home from the grocery store, clutching a grocery bag with a gallon of milk in it. His mother insisted-no,i _demanded/i_ \- that he get some milk from the store after school. Of course he listened; he didn't need any flack from her.

Katsuki passed by the school. He looked up, expecting to see nothing out of the ordinary. And for a second, he did. He saw the same old run-down shitty drainpipes of the top floor of the school, and a pink sky from the setting sun behind it. Same old, same old.

But then there was a shadow.

There was a person on the roof. Katsuki squinted to get a better look, but he couldn't make out a face. He could, however, make out a very familiar silhouette… Was that…?

"Oi! Deku! What the hell are you doing up there?" Katsuki called up to him. Deku flinched, then rubbed his eyes; he was crying again, the damn weakling.

"Go away!" He called back, his voice ragged. He must've been crying for a while.

"Get off the fucking roof, you dipshit! You're gonna fall!" Katsuki replied, slightly concerned. He'd never told him to go away. Stop, maybe, but to go away all together? That's different.

Katsuki heard a broken laugh. "Isn't that what you want, iKacchan/i?" Izuku said his childhood nickname with a bitterness Katsuki'd never heard before. He froze. What was he…? "Yesterday, in school? You told me there was a surefire way to becoming a hero, and well, here I am!" Izuku spread his arms. "I'm gonna be the greatest hero who ever lived." Izuku said, and Katsuki could almost _hear_ the smile on his face.i _NO!_ _That fucking idiot! I wasn't being serious!/i_ Katsuki yelled internally.

"Izuku, get down! Please, you're scaring me!" Katsuki called back up, already making his way to the edge of the roof Izuku was standing on. Izuku simply laughed, a deep laugh Katsuki'd never heard from him before.

"Please? _Scared_? The great Katsuki, saying please, saying he's scared? I don't believe you." Izuku sneered uncharacteristically. Katsuki really i _was/i_ afraid, now. Izuku was out of control. If he was really going to jump…. Katsuki needed to be prepared.

"Izuku. Please. I-"

"Oh, so now my name is Izuku? Whatever happened toi _Deku/i_? I'm useless aren't I? I don't deserve to live on this planet with such an amazing creature like _you_." Izuku yelled bitterly. "Oh, but now I matter? Now you want me to live? When all you've done for the past few years is tease me and taunt me? I don't think so." Izuku sounded almost… Evil. He didn't sound like himself. This wasi _his/i_ fault? i I did this to him?/i The thought made the explosive teen cringe with self loathing.

"Izuku, please, just come down. We can talk about this." Katsuki'd never been in a position to talk someone out of suicide before, if that's what this was, but he was sure that a calm tone would help calm the other person down enough to-

"Okay." Izuku said, with an air of finality. Okay? That was it? He was just going to-?

Katsuki was so lost in his confusion that he didn't notice that Izuku had turned around and spread his arms, his back to the air behind the ledge of the roof until the last possible second.

" _DEKU!_ " Katsuki used his quirk to reach Izuku before he hit the ground. He barely made it.

"Izuku, you _idiot_! When I said that, I didn't mean it!" Katsuki cradled Izuku's body with his own. He was surprised to find that he was crying, a startling fact; he never cried. He guessed this situation warranted them though; he'd never seen a life flash before his eyes. Certainly not iIzuku's/i life.

"I'm so sorry…. I'm so sorry…" Izuku mumbled, seemingly back to his normal self. The inon-suicidal/i self.

"Shut up. Just shut up." Katsuki laid his forehead on Izuku's, his own tears mixing with Izuku's. "Don't ever do that again, you stupid Shitnerd. i _Ever/i_."

Izuku was quiet for a while, save for his sniffles and quiet sobs. "I didn't know you cared."

Katsuki's head snapped up. "What?" He breathed.

"I didn't know you cared if I lived or died. I thought you hated me because… Because I was i _average/i_. Quirkless. Completely unextraordinary. I thought maybe if I died, you wouldn't get so angry all the time, Kacchan." Izuku sobbed quietly.

Katsuki took this in. "Of course I fucking care." Izuku flinched. Katsuki continued. "I've always cared. Why do you think I always tease you? I'm trying to make sure you don't get _ihurt/i_ , Deku. That's always been what I was doing. Every bad name, everything I ever said that lowered your confidence, I wanted you to give up. I wanted you to give up so badly on trying to become a hero, because heroes might be amazing, but they get hurt. They get hurt a lot, and some of them die." Katsuki told him, Izuku's green eyes wide as saucers and filled to the brim with tears. "I don't want you to die. I want you to fuckingi _live/i_." Katsuki told him, and the tears spilled over. Izuku's body wracked with silent sobs. He sat up, hugging himself tightly, as if he were holding himself together. Katsuki flinched when he let out a long guttural scream, for it to only to turn into a sob moments later.

Katsuki wanted to put his arms around him, to do _isomething/i_ to comfort him. But what did one do when they were sitting with someone who'd just jumped off a building?

"Kacchan… Kacchan…." Izuku had begun muttering, saying Katsuki's childhood nickname like a mantra.

"Izuku?" Katsuki nudged Izuku's shoulder with his own. "We should get you home. Your mom will be worrying." Izuku went pale at the mention of his mother, covering his mouth.

"Oh god… How could I have tried to…?" Izuku looked as if he was going to be sick, his freckles standing out starkly against his milky pallor.

"It's okay. I won't tell anyone. This will stay between us, but that's only if you swear to me that you will never, i _ever/i_ try anything like this again. Alright?" Katsuki told him gently, then stood up and offered him his hand. Izuku stared blankly at it, still looking vaguely sick. "Well? Are you gonna get off the dirty ground, or are you gonna stay there until some rapist picks you up?" Izuku grabbed his hand quickly and scrambled off the ground. Katsuki picked up the gallon of milk, which miraculously didn't bust when he dropped it to catch Izuku.

"Thank you, Kacchan." Izuku muttered. Crimson eyes snapped up to met forest green ones.

"D-don't fucking thank me. It's my fault you were up there in the first place."

"But… You saved me. I would've died. The height and the way I fell-"

"Quit your mumbling."

"...Yes, Kacchan." Izuku shifted uncomfortably. "But thank you for saving me."

Katsuki sighed.

"Fine. You're welcome. Besides, as annoying as you are sometimes, it'd really suck if you died. I mean, who else am I gonna call Deku and Shitnerd?" Katsuki asked, trying for humor. It seemed to work, as Izuku cracked a tired smile and even chuckled a little.

"Y-yeah, I guess so." Izuku turned back to the sidewalk in front of him, still walking towards his house, which, coincidentally, was in the same neighborhood as Katsuki's.

Katsuki sighed. "And I guess…. Sorry for being such an ass all the time. I know it hurts you, but I just… I don't want to see you hurt yourself, y'know? You don't exactly have a quirk to protect yourself with, and I'm not always gonna be there to protect you. And as you demonstrated yesterday, you still believe in being a hero. You tried to save me, even though I'm always so shitty to you." Katsuki thought for a moment, then sighed again. "Thank you, by the way. I… I didn't say it yesterday. I was in denial, thinking I was still protecting you. But it didn't help any, did it?"

There was a pregnant pause. And then, a soft whisper, accompanied with a sniffle and a smile.

"Y-you're welcome, Kacchan."


End file.
